Stalking Grissom
by JuJuBeezzz
Summary: Response to Stalking Grissom challenge fic by HG, someone stalks Grissom and sends threatening letters to the other ladies in his life. GCR
1. Chapter 1

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ….not me

Distribution" Graveshiftcsi homepage

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own them - and certainly make no profit from this, unless someone would like to send me money...

Rating: PG-13 right now, will probably end up an R for language, violence and who knows what else.

Spoilers: Minor ones throughout the seasons I guess, nothing major. Also team is all working together in this one.

Summary: Response to "Stalking Grissom" challenge fic by HG, "someone stalks Grissom and sends threatening letters to the other ladies in his life."

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Gil Grissom stretched as he looked at his watch. Fortunately the shift was almost over, it had been a rough night, starting with a partially decomposed body found in the sewers. Trying to collect evidence had been a daunting task, but with a stroke of luck the woman's husband had confessed as soon as they showed up at his house to question him about not reporting the disappearance. "Guilt was a wonderful thing sometimes" he mused.

Eyeing the stack of mail and paperwork on his desk wearily he decided he might as well dive into it for a few minutes before his shift ended. After throwing away a couple of conference invitations he picked up an inconspicuous envelope addressed to him as "Private and Confidential". Noting the single ladybug on the envelope and raising an eyebrow he opened it, not used to getting personal correspondence at work. Pulling out the single sheet of stationary, with a ladybug border he began to read the typed print.

Dearest,  
Days go by with thoughts of you in my mind, and I've asked myself what is happening? My heart said I should follow where it leads me, so here goes. Every time I see or think of you, my whole body shivers. I want you to know that, yet I am not yet sure how to approach you, but could not contain my feelings any longer. I love you.

Grissom scanned it again, not sure if this was for real, or if he was having a bad dream. Maybe one of the team was playing games with him. Rubbing his temples in concentration he looked up to see Catherine walking down the hallway, running for his door he called out for her, knowing she would be able to help him with this.

"What's up?" She said, surprised as he practically dragged her into his office and shut the door. "I need you to help me with something, I know this sounds silly, but well, I'm not sure how to take this." Gil licked his lips nervously.

"Oh it can't be that bad." She said reaching out to take the letter he offered her. As she quickly scanned it she began chuckling. "Someone's got a secret admirer," she teased him, waving it around in the air, "wait until I tell the rest of the team," she teased as she turned towards the door.

"Oh no you don't," Gil grabbed her playfully and wrenched it from her hands. "So you don't think it's anything to worry about?" His gaze was hopeful.

"Nah, just someone with a crush, probably harmless, sounds almost like a note Lindsay got from one of her classmates, she was excited until she found out it was the class nerd, but was able to let him down gently. Gil didn't look too convinced so she continued further. "Sometimes a person with a crush just needs to get their feelings out, and then it's out of their system and they can move on. But if you'd like I can go run it through trace." Catherine added, looking somewhat amused.

"No I guess you're right," Gil replied slowly, "it's probably nothing." He turned and put the note in the drawer, just in case.

TBC?

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So did you like it? I didn't write this story i'm just posting on All the credit goes to DJ. R&Rpleaand if you want you can e-mail DJ with feedback at 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ

Distribution: graveshiftcsi

Disclaimer: same as last time

Chapter 2

Six days later and Grissom was feeling pretty foolish for worrying about the letter as he walked into his office. There hadn't been anything else out of the ordinary and Catherine was enjoying herself entirely too much teasing him about his secret admirer, though at least she had kept it from the rest of the CSI crew. He froze though as he saw another envelope on his desk, again with the innocent looking ladybug on it, he was almost tempted to get the gloves but decided against it, it was probably nothing. Opening it he began to read.

Dearest,  
My desire for you grows with each day that passes. I love everything about you. You are a warm, loving, sensitive, charming man with a sense of humor. I find you very attractive. Words do not have to be spoken to know how you feel about me too. I want to be with you, please you, and give you all the happiness I can. If I were granted but one wish, it would be to spend an eternity with you. I love you and know that one day I will find the courage to tell you to your face.

Gil dropped the letter, almost as if burned and sprinted to the hallway, he needed another opinion on this one. Not seeing Catherine anywhere about he walked quickly down the hall, wishing she were here. But since she wasn't, he paused as he saw Sara working in the lab, impulsively deciding this was not something he wanted the guys to know about just yet he quickly enlisted her aid. She of course visibly brightened when he asked her to come help him.

"OK Sara, promise me you won't laugh, but I have a problem" he stated as he pointed to the letter on his desk, "could you read that and tell me what you think?"

"Hey anything I can do to help" she cheerfully offered, always happy when he sought her input. She read in silence before putting it down. "And the problem is?"

"That's the second letter I've gotten like this, and I have no clue as to who this person is, it could be some raving lunatic for all I know." Gil just couldn't figure out why he was the only person getting unnerved by this.

"Cute border, ladybugs huh? He or she probably thinks they're being cute since you're an entomologist you know."

"Yes I know," he sighed impatiently at her pointing out the obvious. "He or she?" he suddenly repeated what she said, shaking his head at the new idea, he had assumed it was a woman, but it was possible he supposed as he began digesting this possible new angle. "I hate to break it to you Grissom, but you're not a celebrity, so I think the celebrity stalker angle is out." Sara said with a half smilke, then studied her boss for a moment, "this really has you worried doesn't it?"

"I guess I'm probably overreacting, Catherine told me I shouldn't worry either." Grissom sighed as he slumped back.

"Catherine told you not to worry?"

"Yes I showed her the first one, a couple days ago. She felt it was probably just someone with a schoolgirl crush and I shouldn't worry about it." Gil felt foolish even as he said it, realizing that he was likely overreacting to the situation simply because of his inadequacies in dealing with people and their feelings.

"So there you have it, nothing to worry about." Sara agreed, watching him for a moment as he stared at the envelope in silence, "so can I go back to work now?"

"Oh yeah, thanks Sara," he gave her a warm smile as she left his office and he slid the second letter into a folder along with the first one, trying to ignore the nagging feeling in his gut.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ….not me

Distribution" Graveshiftcsi homepage

Disclaimers and such in Ch. 1. This is probably all I'll torture you guys with today .

Rating: PG-13 right now, will probably end up an R for language, violence and who knows what else.

Spoilers: Minor ones throughout the seasons I guess, nothing major. Also team is all working together in this one.

Summary: Response to "Stalking Grissom" challenge fic by HG, "someone stalks Grissom and sends threatening letters to the other ladies in his life."

Chapter 3

Another busy week had flown by for the CSI team and Gil Grissom had almost managed to forget the two strange letters he had received, that is until he walked in to see a package on his desk in ladybug wrapping paper, along with the usual envelope on top. Taking no chances this time he donned the plastic gloves as he first carefully opened the letter.

Dearest,  
I watched you today as you walked down the sidewalk after leaving a crime scene. You walked so confidently among all the flashing blue lights and officers running about. But I'm tired of just watching you, wishing I could be closer. The box contains a gift for you, I know you never wear cologne but I dream of how you would smell and how that scent would linger on your clothes, and the pillows of my bed. I can't wait until I get the nerve to tell you face to face how deep my love for you has become.

Grissom gingerly opened the box, grimacing at the sight of the Old Spice bottle, he had never liked that scent. Not even bothering to consult anyone this time he carried the box, bottle, card and wrappings all down to the lab and began his analysis.

After two hours of careful study he was surprised at the lack of information he had. No fingerprints, saliva samples, fibers, the stationary, ink and other supplies were all so generic they could be found at a local Wal-mart. The material evidence so far was completely untraceable as far as he could tell. Guess the person was smart enough to realize that sending something you didn't want traced to a crime lab was risky.

He stared at the seemingly innocent bottle of cologne, deep in thought, losing track of time until his beeper went off and another crime called him back into the Las Vegas darkside.

An explosion had gone off in a small home on the outskirts of town, fortunately the family, a mother, father and two children, likely never knew what hit them. It was a long and taxing night as the team sorted through the twisted metal and rubble, occasionally discovering body parts that were carefully bagged and labeled as to location found. Grissom forgot about the package as they worked through the night. They finally reached the center of the rubble, their scope had narrowed until the 5 CSI's were working almost shoulder to shoulder.

Grissom looked up when he heard Catherine's sharp intake of breath beside him, looking over he saw that she held one small foot in her hand from one of the victims. Reaching over he gently squeezed her free hand for support before turning back to his grid. Strengthened Catherine was able to get the plastic bag and continue processing the scene.

The explosion appeared to have been a gas leak judging from the pattern of the blast, but the question still remained as to what had set it off. The shift was finally over and all the evidence bagged up and sent back to the lab for analysis to determine exact cause try to recreate the scene.

The group of exhausted and filthy CSI's were all ready to go home to their showers and beds. Nick and Warrick started walking towards their vehicles together, and Sara began one final walkthrough of the scene to make sure nothing had been overlooked.

"I'm exhausted." Catherine stated plainly as Gil nodded in agreement. "How about breakfast," he offered after a moments pause. Catherine raised an eyebrow at his suggestion, "we're filthy, we can't go out like this."

"That's what a drive thru is for" he said nonchalantly as he headed towards his Denali, not even looking back to see if she was following. Catherine watched him for a moment trying to decide. She desperately wanted to go home and take a shower, but her stomach was growling. "Are you coming?" he prompted as he opened the door. Deciding, she walked to join him, a new spring in her step as she savored the idea of some time alone with him.

Getting their food they drove a short distance to the city park, which was deserted at that early hour in the morning. Sitting together at one of the picnic tables they hungrily devoured their biscuits and began sipping the hot coffee. "You ok?" Gil finally broke the silence as his eyes searched Catherine's face. She didn't even have to pretend she didn't know what he was referring to.

"I'm ok now, it's just hard to ever get used to seeing dead children, so young, innocent, their life snuffed out before they've barely begun." Her voice almost cracked as she remembered the tiny foot once more. He reached over and took her hand again. "Thanks" she smiled sincerely, amazed at how such a small gesture could be so comforting. She expected him to pull away at any moment but to her surprise she felt his thumb start making small circular motions on the back of her hand. As her questioning gaze met his, he suddenly seemed to be embarrassed as he removed his hand, the spell broken. They threw their trash in the receptacles as they silently headed towards their respective vehicles. They both drove back to their homes lost in their respective thoughts.

"Was he just trying to comfort me, or was he…." Catherine's mind raced as she explored the alternatives.

"What was I doing? I didn't want to let go…." Gil thought, recalling the feeling of her soft hand in his.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ

Distribution: summary, etc. in Ch. 1. Mainly fluff chapter ahead but don't worry, will be back to action/suspense in Ch. 5 :). Hope I don't stretch them to far OOC. Some language here, but rating is still PG-13ish Chapter 4

2 days later

Grissom had originally planned to share his latest package and letter with Catherine but hadn't yet. Something had changed between them, something almost imperceptible. They had always been good friends, but now there was the definite hint of something more in the air, as evidenced by an occasional blush from Catherine when she looked up to his blue eyes intently focused on her before he quickly averted his gaze. He could also tell that there was an increased awareness of their proximity to each other, as evidenced by a quick movement away when they accidentally brushed against each other in the lab or hallway. Were they standing closer and touching more often than before, or had the awareness simply been heightened?

He was soon reminded of his problem when he walked in to see a familiar envelope on his desk, attached to a small manila envelope. He opened it up, expecting yet another bizarre expression of love and devotion from this person he probably had never laid eyes on. He began reading, astounded by the change of tone in her letter.

How dare you, I pour my heart out to you and then see you with HER. How could you be taken in by a slut like that? Stop it now, or you'll both be sorry! I'm so mad right now I could just explode, you're so clueless sometimes when it comes to women. Just stay away from her and we'll get past this, all couples have their problems so this is just another hurdle we have to pass."

Grissom slowly laid the venomous note on the desk as he opened the package. To his horror he immediately recognized the contents as photo's spilled out on the desk. There they were in the park, holding hands on the picnic table. It dawned on him that the person had been watching them, this wasn't just a crime scene groupie, but a person who apparently spent a good deal of time following him. Someone who was apparently close enough to know about his difficulty in dealing with women on an emotional level.

It was no longer a silly crush, and definitely not an office prank, which he had not completely ruled out until now. He needed to get to Catherine and let her know about it, but even as he reached for the phone she was suddenly slamming the door to his office behind her.

"Look at this" she said without preamble, throwing a similar envelope on his desk, she had received a note and set of pictures also it seemed. Apparently the person knew her name also, Gil made a mental note of this fact as he read the note, which was short and too the point.

Stay away from Gil Grissom you bitch or you'll be sorry! You'll never be good enough for him and I will make you pay if you try to take him from me.

"Cath, I'm sorry…" Gil began, shocked that this was happening and appalled that this person had also directed their anger at Catherine. She was not in the mood for apologies however, she was just mad. "This person is a maniac Gil, following you around, lurking in the shadows, well I'm going to help you bring them out of hiding," she said determinedly, a glint in her eyes. "I hate to ask this Cath, but what exactly do you have in mind?" He wasn't sure how to interpret that look in her eyes.

"We'll give them something else to stew about, might make them clumsy" she purposefully strode through the building. Gil followed her wordlessly, her determined pace making it difficult to have a conversation as they ignored the curious stares they received. After they reached the outside she turned so they were both under the street lamp and in plain view of passerby and others around the building.

"So have you heard any results yet from the lab about the explosion?" She asked softly as she moved slightly closer to him. "Umm, no Cath, nothing yet, you know that." He answered vaguely, distracted both by her nearness and trying to figure out what this had to do with his stalker. "Well they do have a lot of evidence to sift through." She replied, reaching out and touching his elbow, letting her hand linger there before she started to casually stroke his arm. Gil didn't even form a response as he watched her, slowly beginning to comprehend what she was doing. His emotions were conflicted, he wasn't sure if he wanted this to continue if it might put her in danger. But looking at her, her beauty almost glowing in the street light, he realized that he didn't want to stop their charade as this would probably be the only chance he would ever have at being so close to her. Gulping and saying a quick prayer that he wouldn't mess it up he joined her game.

"You know I have a new cockroach, imported him from Germany, I think I finally have a winner for the next race." He said as he nervously raised his hand to her cheek, his lowered tone of voice causing a shiver, despite the subject. "He can sound sexy even talking about bugs." she grinned, enjoying the feel of his warm palm against her cheek, even though she could tell he was nervous from the slight tremor. "Well I hope you finally win." She whispered as she leaned a little closer, tilting her head upwards slightly. Grissom gulped again, hoping he wasn't misreading this signal. Nervously licking his lips one last time he leaned in and gave her a brief kiss on the lips, nothing passionate or intense, but just a touch beyond a friendly note as they lingered for a second before pulling slowly away. A small grin graced both their features as they parted. "That should do the trick," she grinned as she began walking to the garage, Grissom not far behind, wiping the sweat off his palms like a schoolboy

"But what if they come after you?" he had to ask. Guilt setting in that he had allowed her to put herself in the path of this person even if he had really wanted to feel her lips on his at least once.

"Lindsey is at a friend's house tonight, and I'll have an unmarked police car in the yard, already cleared it with Jim ­ and my gun will be by my bed." Besides they aren't brave enough to tell you how they feel about you, I'm not really worried that they're brave enough to break into my home and come after me." Her logic made sense, he knew that she was probably right, but he still worried about her.

He pulled into his driveway but couldn't stop thinking about what might happen, so turned around and shortly was parked across the street from her house, he could see the unmarked police car but still sat there to watch the house, just to be sure. She emerged a few hours later and he was going to duck but realized there was no use as she walked straight for his vehicle, opening the door and sticking her head in. "Um, I was just driving by…" He offered lamely before she cut him off.

"I can spot you from a mile away Gil, you've been here for hours and you look like hell. I told you I'd be ok." She gently fussed at him, he did look awful, between the stalker, the bombing and apparently worrying about her he was obviously exhausted. "Let's get you inside so you can get some sleep before work." Her tone left no room for debate as he meekly exited the vehicle and followed her into her home, removing his shoes and gratefully collapsing on the sofa. He almost immediately fell asleep as she began working in the kitchen.

Several hours later

"He's so cute when he's sleeping," Catherine mused as she sat and watched him, enjoying the chance to watch him like this, he looked so peaceful and relaxed for a change. She was fighting the urge to reach out and tangle her fingers in the curls at the back of his neck as her gaze traveled over his features, stopping on his gently parted lips. They looked so soft and inviting she thought as she continued to study them remembering the brief kiss they had shared earlier. She suddenly realized his breathing had changed and realized that his eyes had opened. Frozen she wasn't sure what to do as she gazed into the dark blue depths.

Gil opened his eyes, wondering for a moment if he was really awake or if this was one of his frequent dreams where she was so close and then disappeared just as he reached for her. Even though he knew it was most likely another dream, he knew he had to try, just as he always did before his dream Catherine would evaporate just before he kissed her. She shivered as she felt his hand reach up and tangle his fingers into her hair. She quickly moistened her lips in anticipation of what she could tell from the look in his eyes was coming next. She wanted to make the first move and attack those inviting lips with her own, but something inside told her to hold back and let him be the one in control during this delicate stage as the parameters of their friendship were obviously changing.

She didn't resist as he gently pulled her head down towards his own and gently brushed her lips with his. It was tentative at first, sweet and almost innocent. Still letting him control the pressure and movement she was fully enjoying their first real kiss. Not put on for show or as a lure, but simply to convey the feelings they were obviously having for each other.

She missed the contact when he gently pushed her away so he could look her in the eyes. "It's not a dream?" he said, sounding almost dazed. She didn't bother to answer, just smiled as she leaned in this time to capture his lips again, parting her lips and flicking his lips with her tongue out to encourage him to deepen the kiss to which he groaned and began to readily respond.

"Damn!" she exclaimed as her cellphone started insistently ringing. Gil sat up as she answered it, watching her as she talked. Wanting to pinch himself to make sure he was fully awake. "Had he really just kissed her, and she had kissed him back? She hadn't pulled back, or seemed upset," he analyzed the events in his mind.

"We've got to get to the office, some apparently vital information has just come in on the explosion." Catherine sighed as Gil began to put on his shoes, disappointed that their newfound closeness had come to such an abrupt halt. "About what happened…" he began as he followed her to the door, wanting to be sure he hadn't misread it. "We don't have to overanalyze this ok Gil", she said softly as she turned to let him out the door before she locked it behind them, "I have no regrets, and I certainly plan for us to continue it later, if that's ok with you" she reassured him with a teasing smile as he couldn't help but give an almost goofy grin as a rare wave of contentment washed over him.

TBC 


	5. Chapter 5

Title: **Stalking Grissom**

Author: DJ….not me

Distribution" Graveshiftcsi homepage

Disclaimers and such in Ch. 1. This is probably all I'll torture you guys with today .

Rating: PG-13 right now, will probably end up an R for language, violence and who knows what else.

Spoilers: Minor ones throughout the seasons I guess, nothing major. Also team is all working together in this one.

Summary: Response to "Stalking Grissom" challenge fic by HG, "someone stalks Grissom and sends threatening letters to the other ladies in his life."

* * *

Chapter 5 

"What have we got?" Grissom asked as he and Catherine entered the lab, seeing the rest of the team already assembled. "No father." Nick said coolly, as he casually dropped the bomb, watching their reactions. "Excuse me?" Catherine wasn't sure she'd heard correctly.

"We have yet to identify the adult male victim but DNA evidence and comparison of the victim with what we know of the father suggests that it's not him." Warrick jumped in to elaborate on Nick's statement.

"That certainly puts a new light on things." Grissom's jaw was set as he mulled over the new evidence.

"Brass has got the force out looking for him now." Sara added, "it certainly doesn't look good that his family is blown up and he's nowhere to be found."

"Let's wait and see what else the evidence says before we draw conclusions," Grissom reminded his team, "anything else?"

"The point of explosion does seem to be the water heater. We haven't found any evidence yet that it was tampered with, or anything that set it off, but the techs are still looking through the remains of the heater and surrounding rubble for any foreign materials, that's about it for now." Nick finished giving the synopsis of the case so far, letting silence fill the room as the four junior members started giving each other significant looks, "you ask" Nick hissed to Warrick, "it's none of my business, you ask" Warrick retorted. "Ok guys what's up?" Grissom broke in knowing that the sooner whatever was they were apparently squabbling about was dealt with, the sooner they could return their focus to the case at hand.

The team was saved when Greg rounded the corner on his way to the breakroom. "Hey Greg, got a minute," Nick called out barely hiding the smirk on his handsome features. "What's up" the good natured technician practically bounced into the room. "We were all just talking with Gris about something you might be interested in, thought you might want to hear it with us." Greg lit up like a Christmas tree at Nicks words not even realizing some of the guilty looks the rest of the team was trying hard to hide.

"Really, awesome, so they're telling you why they were playing tonsil hockey in public?" Greg beamed at the duo, confused when the team started laughing behind him. "That's what you guys were talking about?" Catherine asked incredulously as awareness washed over Greg. "It wasn't exactly tonsil hockey." Grissom said hotly, both embarrassed and upset about being caught by the team. "You mean they didn't already know we saw them? GUYS!" It was Greg's turn to be embarrassed when he realized he had been tricked. "So what we're debating," Sara broke through the guys laughter, is whether this is a relationship thing, or some kind of practical joke, or something else," her meaning was lost on the other CSI's, but Gil knew she meant the letters he had received.

"Could you give us a minute?" Catherine finally intervened, noticing Gil was trying desperately to maintain his composure. "Don't forget to wipe the lipstick off." Nick called after them setting off a fresh wave of laughter and debate, as they went into Grissom's office and shut the door. The team always enjoyed a chance for some fun among the usual darkness that came with their type of work.

"I didn't think the lab would see us also, don't they ever work?" Gil began complaining the minute his door shut. "Hey, we can't blame them, what we need to do now is figure out what to tell them." Catherin left the question in the air as he plopped down at his desk putting his head down and rubbing his temples as he thought for a moment. Getting no response she walked around the desk, feeling him momentarily stiffen in surprise as her hands touched his back, she really would have to work on getting him more used to being touched she thought as she began with gentle circular motions on his shoulders.

"Let's look at the options," she began addressing their new dilemma, "#1: We tell them about the stalker and that we're setting them up, or #2, it's a "relationship thing", or #3, that it's none of their business…" she trailed off as she concentrated on a particularly tight knot of muscles at the base of his neck, proud of herself when she felt them loosening and his groan of appreciation. "I'm not really fond of any of those options," he quietly stated as he straightened, "we don't know who the person is, so if we let the setup angle get out to the lab this person could find out, if we tell them we're in a relationship, well that could make things awkward and Ecklie would probably be after me, and 3, well I guess they could entertain themselves with the gossip." He sighed realizing that was probably the best option.

"You think the person could be in the lab?" Catherine was surprised, that thought having not crossed her mind. "Well they seem to know me at least a little personally, and they know you, they know I don't wear cologne, and they're smart enough to keep everything they send absolutely trace free. I can't explain it, just the tone of the letters gives me the feeling it's someone who see's me very frequently if not daily. "That sure opens up the field of suspects." Catherine agreed. "Yeah, could be anyone from the receptionist at the coffeeshop to someone who works here. Though I do think it's someone female, I just can't see a guy doing it this way" Grissom talked out his reason for rejecting the first option, even though he trusted his team, there were a lot of ears around the building. "Agreed." Catherine nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Between the techs, secretaries, cleaning crew, and even police officers, that's a lot of potential candidates around here."

"Thanks for broadening the field." Gil responded dryly, not wanting to deal with his stalker situation right now. "So back to what we tell the kids about our little display.."

"Well I'll tell you that if we go on #3, from what I've heard I think that if left to their own devices, everyone but Sara will assume we've become romantically involved." Catherine couldn't help but point out what the obvious assumption would be. "Have we?" He couldn't stop the question from escaping, even though he wasn't sure they were ready to have this discussion. But he had to know if she cared for him or if she was just thinking of this as a little fling. Catherine's busy hands abruptly stopped as she weighed his question. She knew him well enough to know what he was asking, and why. He was afraid of being hurt, and to be honest so was she.

The silence in the room was almost deafening as both their minds considered this turning point in their relationship. If she said "no" he'd be hurt a little bit and retreat back into his shell, and she would kick herself forever for turning down this chance to let him know she loved him also and see where a relationship would take them. But if she said "yes" which is what her heart desperately wanted to do, they could have a lifetime of happiness, or they could lose their friendship if things didn't work out, as well as risk their jobs, as mixing work and romance was usually a bad combination. So they stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, though only lasted a few moments, her hands on his shoulders and him staring at his tarantula while awaiting her reply.

A knock on the door caused them to jump apart almost guiltily, even though there was no reason to. Catherine opened it to see Greg standing there looking slightly guilty, "just wanted to say I was sorry if we gave you guys a hard time, a lot of us just think that you two would make, well…" his voice trailed as he realized that they weren't in the mood to talk about it with him, and quickly took their serious expression as a cue that he and the others were right about the the two of them having feelings for each other, he couldn't wait to let the others know that there was apparently something serious going on.

"Did you come to just dig yourself in deeper, or was there a reason?" Gil said, anxious to get rid of the lab tech so he and Catherine could continue their discussion. "Oh yeah, Brass found the father from that explosion, he's in interrogation right now if you two want to come."

"Let's go then." Grissom stood, knowing that it was time to get back to work and however agonizing the wait would be, that this conversation would have to wait a little longer.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Title: **Stalking Grissom**

Author: DJ(aka phantomcsiwriter)….not me

Distribution" Graveshiftcsi homepage

Disclaimers and such in Ch. 1. This is probably all I'll torture you guys with today .

Rating: PG-13 right now, will probably end up an R for language, violence and who knows what else.

Spoilers: Minor ones throughout the seasons I guess, nothing major. Also team is all working together in this one.

Summary: Response to "Stalking Grissom" challenge fic by HG, "someone stalks Grissom and sends threatening letters to the other ladies in his life."

Author's Note: Warning, more angst ahead, but wanted to wrap up the explosion angle so can get back to focusing on the stalker wrap up. Thanks so much to everyone for their reviews and encouragement to continue. 

**Chapter 6**

Catherine and Grissom watched from behind the two way mirror as Brass questioned the man who until very recently had been considered deceased along with his family.

"I was out of town, I didn't know anything had happened until the police found me." The slightly built man in his late 30's explained, his light blue shirt showing that he sweating profusely during the questioning.

"You didn't call home, try to talk to your family?" Brass wouldn't let up. While the CSI's waited on evidence to be sure of what had happened, his years on the force and his gut instinct told him that this man was guilty and lying through his teeth.

"I called a couple times and didn't get an answer, I just assumed no one was home." The man tried to explain himself.

"So you've been in Colorado for the past two weeks on business?" The detective changed direction abruptly.

"Yeah, that's right, you can check with my boss." The man was obviously relieved at the change in direction.

"We did, your office confirmed you were sent there on business, and the motel confirmed you had a reservation for two weeks." Brass said casually, watching the man relax as he assumed he was off the hook.

"He's really good at this," Catherine observed, watching the detective at work.

"He sure is, want to make a bet on how long it takes to get a confession?" Grissom joked as he looked over at her.

"Hmm, sure, what's the prize?" Catherine bantered back, glad to be back in familiar territory with her friend.

"Loser has to fix dinner for the winner," Grissom had obviously already thought out a plan for picking up where they had left off.

"It's a deal," she easily replied, having already decided to follow her heart instead of playing it safe, and with that decision made was looking forward to their next opportunity to be alone together.

"I say about thirty more minutes and the man will crack." Grissom said smugly, happy that she had agreed.

"Ha, not that long, I say less than ten. I think Brass is getting ready to drop a bomb." She grinned as they turned back to the interrogation.

"So you were in Colorado for two weeks?" Brass asked again?

"I already told you that." The man was obviously getting upset. "Look I just lost my wife and children, do we really have to do this now?" He tried playing the sympathy card.

"Just a couple more questions then you can go." Brass smiled as he started moving in for the kill. "You were alone in Colorado for two weeks, didn't try to contact your family, go home for a visit, nothing out of the ordinary happened or anything?"

"It was an important conference, I was busy the whole time, I told you that." The man answered again as his lawyer watched carefully. She too sensed he was being set up but could find no way to object to the questioning so far.

"Did you lose anything on your trip?" Brass asked innocently.

"No of course not, what's that got to do with anything?" The man was quickly unraveling.

"Explain one little thing to me then we'll let you go." Brass acted nonchalant before posing his next question.

"We ran a check on your credit and it seems your Visa card was used to buy gas at a station here in Las Vegas the same night your house exploded."

"Oh, I forgot about that card, it's been missing for months now," the man was sweating again.

"Good news then," Brass nodded looking at him as if buying it. "Both the man and the vehicle were captured on the surveillance camera outside the gas station, so we shouldn't have a hard time finding him." The detective played his trump card.

The man could only sit there stunned realizing he had been caught, not believing he had been so stupid, if only he had used cash he might have gotten away with it. "I advise you to not answer any further questions," he heard his lawyer say behind him, but Jim wouldn't let up.

"What I want to know is why? Why did you kill your wife and two sons? If you wanted out you could have gotten a divorce, just left them." Jim's anger was apparent, he dealt with criminals every day, but ones like this one were especially hard to deal with. "And who was the man in the house?" The questions kept coming hard and fast, until the man finally exploded.

"You think it's that easy, I wanted out, all she ever did was nag me to spend more time with her and the kids, honey do this and honey do that, I couldn't handle it. It took every dime I made to support them and I was sick of working all the time and not having anything. I knew if I divorced her I would still have to pay child support through the nose, so I did the only thing I could think of to gain freedom. I didn't think anyone would ever realize that stupid drifter wasn't me, I figured I could disappear totally and start my life over, without all the stress and financial problems." The man collapsed sobbing on the table sadly though it was obvious that it was out of self-pity, not remorse for what he had done. Jim pulled out a sheet of paper to get his confession.

"Man is the only animal that kills completely out of selfishness" Grissom observed the scene sadly, feeling the weight of the appalling crime weighing down on him, knowing he would have to go ride the roller coaster tonight. He turned to look at Catherine's face, waiting for her to say something, but she was speechless, the shock and horror evident on her face as she was likely recalling the tiny foot, and the knowledge that the sole purpose for the tragedy had been so some pathetic yuppie could have his freedom. Sensing she didn't want to talk about it, Grissom did the only thing he could and put his arm around her shoulders, offering her comfort.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Title: **Stalking Grissom**

Author: DJ(aka phantomcsiwriter)….not me

Distribution" Graveshiftcsi homepage

Author's Note: Help, I can't stop writing! Ok, this should be it for tonight, possibly, I hope, or I'll be dead at work tomorrow, lol.  
Disclaimers and such in Ch. 1. And the fun continues. 

Sw33tangelgrl's note: Sorry about the late updates been busy! Promise i'll have the next chapter up within the week. Reminder i didn't write this. 

**Chapter 7**

The next night at work everyone seemed back to themselves, having gone home and used their well developed coping mechanisms that they had used for many a particularly difficult case.

Grissom was at his desk engrossed in a report about an entomologist in Nebraska who had just completed an extensive study on the feeding habits of the rootworm in hopes of minimize the damage done to their corn crops when he felt a presence in the room. Looking up he noticed Catherine standing in front of his desk watching him.

"About time you noticed I was here," she teased him, having enjoyed the few moments to observe him without his knowledge.

"Sorry, but this is a fascinating report, only now has someone actually managed to observe the way the rootworm…." He stopped in mid-sentence, realizing that she most likely didn't care how often a rootworm molted its skin. "Something I can help you with?"

"Well, now that you mention it," she grinned as she placed her elbows on the desk to look him in the eye, "that confession took exactly 11 minutes and 32 seconds, so you owe me a home cooked meal."

Grissom blushed slightly at her sudden proximity, desperately trying not to look away from her face, knowing he would probably end up looking down her blouse if he did. "Ok…" he stammered, how about tomorrow night, before shift?"

"How about a late breakfast instead?" she suggested, "that way we don't have to worry about a schedule." The tone of her voice causing him to flush slightly, he wasn't an expert on these matters, but it was certainly sounding like it should be a positive conclusion on the relationship question.

"No problem, I'll make omelets." He tried to sound smooth in spite of their proximity and the decidedly inappropriate thoughts that were currently racing through his mind. Their eyes were locked and their mutual desire was evident as they began slowly moving closer. Freezing when the phone buzzed in interruption,

"Mr. Grissom, the Mayor is on line one for you." The voice of Millie the switchboard operator announced.

"Guess I should take that," he sighed in exasperation as the moment was gone.

"You know you'd better be careful, she might be your stalker." Catherine teased him as she headed for the door.

"If only it were that simple," he laughed as he reached for the phone, if his stalker was indeed a 63 year old woman with bad eyesight, then he wouldn't need to worry.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Title: **Stalking Grissom**

Author: DJ(aka phantomcsiwriter)….not me 

Distribution:Graveshiftcsi homepage 

Author's Note: I'm going to be dead at work tomorrow, lol. Anyways here's another round of fluff to lighten the tone before we dive back into the drama.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

After work Gil made a rare trip to a small grocery store near his house to make sure he'd have everything he needed for the next morning. He liked it better than the big supermarkets, it was one of the rare family owned stores that was surviving amidst its larger competitors, but there was a definite finer quality of produce in his opinion. The location away from the bigger stores, and it's excellent produce section was probably how the only way it survived even without the fancy self-checkout lanes and high tech computers. 

Eggs, garden fresh vegetables, orange juice, wine, bagels, flowers, he wanted to make sure he had everything he needed for the perfect breakfast. Sure they had shared breakfast together in the past, even at his place, but this was different, familiar yet something new as he felt himself standing on the threshold of a possibly life changing event. 

A final check to his cart and he steered towards checkout, pausing as he passed the pharmacy section debating. He didn't want to seem presumptuous and yet he didn't want to be caught unprepared if things moved faster than planned. He finally decided and after a quick scan of the many varieties in front of him quickly grabbed the box of trojans and shoved them under the bag of bagels before continuing to the single checkout lane. 

The cashier was a middle aged lady who looked like she had been on her feet for several hours and didn't look like the type to even bat an eyelash at personal items in a shopping cart so he took a deep breath and started laying his items out on the worn conveyer belt. 

Everything was going smoothly as she rang up the produce, and sure enough, she didn't seem to care as she mechanically grabbed the box and passed it over the ancient scanner without even looking to see what it held. Grissom had just taken a deep breath when there was a beep and she had to rescan them. After a couple tries she sighed in exasperation at the interruption in her generally methodical checkout. "Know how much these were sir?" 

"I didn't look, but I don't care what you charge me…" But he was too late as she picked she waved to catch the attention of a stockboy in the cereal aisle. 

"Jason, I need a price check on a box of Trojan Ultra Thins," she bellowed, quickly answering Grissom's question about whether or not they had a departmental phone system. 

"OK Mom," the kid yelled back as he quickly headed towards the pharmacy, causing Grissom to turn red as he began contemplating running and leaving his groceries there. 

"Regular or extra large?" Jason called back, apparently having inherited his mothers vocal chords. Grissom was just about ready to head for the exit as he noticed a couple of curious stares in his direction as the stocky cashier began to pick up the box to check. 

"Never mind, they're both $9.99," Jason yelled back. Grissom was thankful for the small reprieve and hastily handed over a handful of cash, not daring to use his card on their system and wanting to exit the store as quickly as possible to escape back to the sanctuary of his townhouse. 

TBC 


	9. Chapter 9

Title: **Stalking Grissom**

Author: DJ(aka phantomcsiwriter)….not me

Author's Note: First off, an apology for a couple of grammer errors I found in Ch. 8, I was going a little faster in the end when I made last minute changes and forgot to modify the entire sentence to fit them. So if you read a sentence that seems a little mismatched, that's why.

Chapter 9

Later that evening

Grissom had everything ready before leaving his home for the night shift. He had all the breakfast ingredients prepared, candles on the table waiting to be lit, and the house was even more spotless than usual. Taking one last look around to make sure it was perfect he turned off the lights and closed the door, smiling to himself as he couldn't help but think that when he returned Catherine would be with him.

He tried to act natural as he entered the building. Immediately scanning to see if she was in sight. Disappointed when he didn't see her he went to his office to go through case files. "No matter," he thought, "I'll get her to work with me tonight" he planned as he sorted through the assignments that had come in.

His heart leapt as he saw the familiar flash of strawberry blonde hair in front of him as he began heading towards the conference room to give assignments. "Hey Cath, wait up." He called, puzzled when her pace didn't slow. He could tell immediately that something was wrong when he entered the conference room, and saw that she wasn't even making eye contact with him. Clearing his throat he began to give out assignments.

"Nick, there's been a burglary at 57 Freemont street, $15 million in art missing, lets see if it was an inside job." Grissom spoke as he handed the assignment to the young CSI. "Sara and Warrick, two DB's have been found shot execution style in a storage room on the strip." He said crisply as he passed the file to Warrick.

"Which leaves a suspicious car outside of town for Catherine and I to investigate. Seems there was only one driver, and they died, but the wreck wasn't that severe and they still somehow managed to end up under the car," He gave the basics as he kept the last folder for himself and stood aside as the team prepared to leave for their respective assignments.

"Actually, I think I should go with Warrick." Catherine interrupted, as she quickly met his eyes. Her eyes were slightly red he noticed, his heart fell as his gut told him that something had changed in their fledgling relationship. "Two gunshot victims sound like something I might need to look at, to analyze blood spatter." She tried to justify her suggestion, but it was apparent to all that something more was going on.

"OK," Grissom nodded almost dumbly as he tried to let his mind grasp this recent and unexpected change. "Catherine go with Warrick, Sara you're with me." He announced the change in plans as the team began to file past him, the tone subdued as each was sorting through their own thoughts about what they had just witnessed. "Cath, got a minute?" He pulled her aside in the hall, needing to know what was going on, needing to know that they were still ok.

"What?" she said, her voice a rare icy tone as she turned to face him.

Suddenly not sure how to respond he decided to try something safe. "We still on for breakfast?" He kept his tone casual, suddenly not caring that there were at least a dozen sets of ears around them peeled for her response.

"No, sorry, something came up." She responded in the same tone, obviously steeling herself for what she was going to do next. "Look Gil, I've thought about it and well, this isn't a good idea. I think we need some space right now." She said, already hating herself for the look of pain that darkened those usually gorgeous blue eyes as she turned to go.

"Look, we can go back to being just friends," he followed her, suddenly afraid that they had lost even that.

She halted but didn't turn around. "I don't want to talk about it now, maybe another time." She said in the same crisp tone before hastily exiting the building, leaving a stunned Grissom in her wake as he watched her go. He stood there for a few moments replaying the scene until Sara interrupted his thinking.

"Umm, ready to go?" She asked tentatively, also seeing the look of hurt still lingering on his face.

"Yeah, let me go get something in my office. I'll be right back." He managed to say before hastily making his way there and shutting the door behind him. Sitting down at his desk he stared at his favorite tarantula while fighting the urge to cry. Hating himself for feeling so weak and vulnerable. "Dammit" he exclaimed as he grabbed a mug on his desk and hurled it against the wall, chest heaving as the anger and despair washed over him. "Pull it together Grissom." He finally told himself, taking some deep breaths before straightening up to look in the small mirror by his door. "You're pathetic aren't you, you actually thought you had a chance with someone like her." He berated himself, feeling the anger seeping into every fiber in his body. "I knew I should have stayed with my plan to never have feelings for a woman again after what happened long ago." He continued talking to the miserable looking man in the mirror as he briefly recollected the time he had been so badly burned while in college. "But no, like an idiot I keep falling for these unattainable women, but no more." He said determinedly as he made his resolution before heading for the door where Sara was waiting outside. Inside quietly resolving to return his sole focus on work, where facts and evidence could speak for themselves without being clouded by human emotions.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Title: **Stalking Grissom**

Author: DJ(aka phantomcsiwriter)….not me

Disclaimers, etc. in Ch. 1. Also in case anyone hadn't noticed, yes chapters 8 and up are where I methodically torture the readers until I lighten it up again. evil grin - hang in there guys, I promise it gets better.

Chapter 10

Sara made a few attempts at conversation with Grissom, but he was distant the entire drive so she finally gave up as they rode in silence the rest of the way.

Reaching the scene, they saw skid marks at the edge of the road, indicating that the driver had probably tried to stop just before hitting the guardrail and plummeting down the steep brushy hill.

As they carefully began their descent Sara stumbled, almost losing her balance and tumbling down the hill, but fortunately Grissom was there to catch her by the elbow and helped her regain her footing. "Careful" he said briskly as they continued their descent. When they reached the crash scene they both began snapping pictures of the scene from every possible angle until they were right at the body, taking a couple more pictures before beginning a preliminary investigation.

The victim was a young female, no ID found yet, but she appeared to be in her early 20's, as they looked at her motionless body under the wheels of the car. Surveying the evidence at the scene, it appeared that while the car had left the road and likely had a rough ride down the hill, it was not readily apparent as to how she ended up under the car, it didn't appear to have rolled or crashed. No holes in the windshield, or other apparent explanations for how she ended up there.

Finally allowing the emergency crews to do their job and remove the body, they ordered the car to be taken back to the garage at the lab for further analysis before the duo began their trek back up the hill, Sara keeping a few steps ahead of Grissom with her more agile form as she picked through the rocks and brush. "Whoa" she exclaimed as she slipped again, this time falling backwards into Grissom's arms.

"Not very light on your feet tonight are you?" he observed wryly before helping her back up.

"Guess I'm not, here you go first." She suggested, moving behind him as he was apparently more steady on his feet.

Grissom sighed as he looked at the younger CSI, and contemplated the options. Last thing he needed was to spend the evening in a hospital if she tripped again and broke something, thereby preventing him from being able to go home to lick his wounds in private as he wanted.

To her absolute shock and pleasure, he grabbed her hand as he began climbing the hill to make sure she didn't start tumbling backwards. She didn't argue by any means, if this got him to hold her hand she should play damsel in distress more often she thought as she savored the brief contact, missing his touch when he let go at the top of the hill. "Thanks" she said, her cheeks flushed, more from the excitement than the cold.

"Want to talk about what's going on?" She ventured conversation again as they drove back to the lab.

"No I don't" Grissom replied, wincing as he heard the harsh tone in his voice. "But thanks." He forced it to soften slightly.

They returned to the lab and went to work on the car, lifting several fingerprints and other trace evidence to run through the system before beginning to sift through the bag of materials that had been found in the car, carefully taking fingerprints off the beer cans and fast food wrappers. "Lot of cans here, be interesting to see what her BAC is?" Sara observed.

"Probably off the charts," Grissom agreed as he continued sifting through the floorboard. "Well hello Justin McFall," he whistled in surprise as he pulled a worn wallet that had been mashed between the seats.

"Whatchya got?" Sara came over to look, glancing over his shoulder at the wallet.

"A 20 year old with a bad haircut and a possible witness to this, let's compare prints first." Grissom said as he pulled the young mans print off the card to compare to those found in the car.

"His prints are all over the place." Sara finally said after several tests, "and most importantly they were on the seatbelt and steering wheel, not smudged at all, suggesting he was the last driver."

"Then lets take Brass and pay him a visit." Grissom suggested as he pulled out his phone.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Title: **Stalking Grissom**

Author: DJ(aka phantomcsiwriter)….not me

AN: Well since I introduced it, had to wrap up the case, we'll be back to G/C and the gang soon.

Chapter 11

To their surprise the house at 52 Scenic Way was brightly lit at 3:00 a.m. when they arrived. The CSI's flanked Jim as he knocked on the door which was immediately opened by a wraithlike woman with graying hair, fear apparent in her eyes.

"Las Vegas Police, I'm Detective Jim Brass, Crime Scene investigators Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle." Jim quickly introduced the team. "Is this the McFall residence?" Jim asked.

"Yes, I'm Barbara, my husband Tom is on a business trip. You're here about Justin aren't you? I just know something has happened to him, he's never been this late getting home before," She continued wringing her hands.

"Yes we are, but you say he isn't here?" Brass looked over her shoulder into their spacious living room to see if she was indeed alone.

"I'm sorry, won't you come in?" She stepped back and led them into the house. "I'm just such a mess right now, I don't know what's happened to him, where he is, I thought you were coming to tell me he was hurt, or killed."

"No ma'am, we were just trying to find him to ask a few questions, do you know where he is?" Jim sat down with her on the sofa, trying to put her at ease while Grissom and Sara stood awkwardly for a moment before settling in a pair of armchairs near the sofa.

"He went out with his girlfriend late this afternoon, usually he's home by now, his curfew is midnight." His mother was obviously working hard to keep herself composed.

The CSI's discreetly examined the house from where they sat as Jim and the mother talked. Beautiful ranch style house, with elegant furnishings, obviously well maintained.

"Your son still lives at home?" Grissom interrupted, suddenly wondering why a 20 year old was still living with his parents and how he could do so without leaving any evidence of his presence in the home.

"Oh yes," the mother turned to face them, "He went to college but things didn't work out. His father and I figured he needed a little more time to mature so brought him back home until he could get his focus back on his education. He got in with the wrong crowd, wasn't doing anything but partying. We give him an allowance and gave him the apartment above the garage, would you like to see?" She rose, seeming glad for the distraction.

"If you're sure you don't mind?" Grissom replied even as they rose to follow her.

"I've been pacing all night watching for his light to come on." The mother almost babbled as she led them around to the stairway that went up to the apartment above the garage.

"Nice setup he's got here." Sara muttered as she followed Grissom. "She didn't like seeing kids still being spoiled by their parents when they became adults. Partly due to how hard she had worked to make it through college, being disciplined enough to do it while her parents were the ones who kept telling her to take it easy. She had difficulty understanding people who lacked self-discipline.

Grissom ignored her as he continued climbing the stairs, working hard to keep his mind on the case instead of wandering to a certain strawberry blonde. "I'm sorry, his room's probably a mess." Mrs. McFall began apologizing for him as she opened the door and flipped on the light.

The smell of the room assaulted the team as they shared a significant look when they recognized the smell of marijuana in the room. Beer cans littered the floor, clothes were piled everywhere, even on the bed. "Grissom," Sara suddenly exclaimed as she pointed to a hand protruding from somewhere amidst the mess on the bed.

"Justin!" his mother shrieked as she ran to the bed, joy evident on her face at realizing he was home. Before they could stop her in case it was a crime scene she had gone to him, quickly pushing the clothes away and stroking his forehead. Jim was relieved to see sweat on his brow and his chest rising and falling rapidly indicating that he was still alive. Didn't seem to be in good health at the moment, but alive.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to ask you this, but could you give us a minute to talk with him?" He asked.

"Oh certainly, I'll sit right over here." She moved to the corner and moved some clothes to sit on a chair there. Her entire demeanor had changed and relief was evident on her face.

"Mr. McFall," Jim started saying the young mans name as he gently shook him. It took a couple of attempts before he began to get a response.

"Whhhaaaa…" the man slurred a little as he sat up, trying to focus his bleary eyes on his surroundings. "Who… who are you?" He croaked, shielding his eyes from the light with his arm.

"Las Vegas PD. I'm here to ask you about your whereabouts earlier tonight. But first." Jim quickly read him his Miranda rights just in case.

"Oh he doesn't need that, my Justin hasn't done anything wrong?" His mother interrupted. Grissom and Sara eyed her with a hint of sympathy, knowing she was in total denial about her sons apparent problems.

"You found the car didn't you?" the kid mumbled slumping.

Jim raised an eyebrow slightly, he hadn't expected it to be this easy. "What car?" He asked neutrally.

"My girlfriends car, man is her dad going to be pissed when he finds out we wrecked it." He shook his head as he flopped back on the bed, obviously trying to go back to sleep.

"Mr. McFall, where is the car? And where is your girlfriend?" Jim persisted.

"I dunno, I lost control and we went off the road. I couldn't get the car to move and couldn't find Ashley anywhere so I just stumbled back up to the road and got a ride most of the way here, walked the rest. I figured she'd do the same, and I should get home before her old man sent the cops after me." Jim could see some light dawning in the young mans eyes as he tried to focus. "Oh, I get it, that's what you're here for, her old man wants to blame me for wrecking the car…" Justin began to get agitated.

"No, we're here about Ashley," Jim re-directed him.

"I told you, I don't know where she is, I didn't see her anywhere after we went off the road." He persisted.

"Was she wearing her seatbelt when you went off the road?" Sara asked changing the course of questions. They were all surprised when he started laughing raucously at the idea.

"Not hardly," he giggled, "she was more wasted than I was." He giggled some more. "She kept saying she wanted to know what it felt like to fly, so we decided…" He grinned as began relating the tale. "So we decided she could ride on the roof, you know hang onto the luggage rack while I drove for a mile or two. She was going to go first, then it was going to be my turn." He laughed again, "I bet it was a blast. Too bad her Dad is probably going to forbid me to ever see her again when he sees what happened to the car though." His features changed back into an expression of sadness.

"Your girlfriend is dead Justin." Jim stated the truth bluntly as he watched for the reaction.

The young man didn't seem able to form words, just sat there looking at him blankly. "Mrs. McFall, I'm going to have a unit come out here and take your son to the hospital for observation and then we'll have to take him into custody, I'm terribly sorry." Jim turned to the stricken mother.

"No, this can't be happening," she had started wringing her hands, obviously distraught again.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I'll be right back." Jim stepped outside to radio the station as Grissom and Sara watched the sad scene before them wordlessly. The young man passed back out on his bed, probably still not aware of the grief he had caused, the mother sobbing quietly in the chair. I'll ride back with one of the boys, you two can go on if you like." Jim offered when he returned.

"Man what a night." Sara exclaimed as she buckled herself into the passenger seat. "Imagine that mother not realizing what kind child she had raised."

"She saw what she wanted to see Sara." Grissom replied, tasting the bitter irony in his mouth at his statement. "It's called being blinded by love, so blinded that you can convince yourself that someone else cares more about you than they actually do. And then follows the devastation when you realize that you had it all wrong, that you were the one living in a dream world."

Sara didn't know what to say, she knew he was talking about more than the case but wisely kept her mouth shut as they rode back to the lab.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

Title: **Stalking Grissom**

Author: DJ(aka phantomcsiwriter)….not me

* * *

**Chapter 12 **

"I'll do the reports." Sara volunteered when they walked back into the lab, knowing how much he hated paperwork even on the best of days. Grissom looked at her a long moment before saying a quick thank you and heading straight for his office, hoping he could spend the rest of the shift hiding there.

As he rounded the corner he stopped short trying to avoid a collision from Catherine was approaching from the other direction, but since she had her head buried in a chart she didn't see him and before he could give warning she crashed into him, the folder in her hands falling to the ground and papers spilling from it.

Grissom sighed and started to bend down to help her. "No I got it." She said sharply, "just go."

He stared at her for a moment in confusion, "what do you hate me now?" He just couldn't fathom the total 180 she had pulled on him since last night.

"I just don't want you near me ok." She said again, her eyes briefly meeting his as she became aware of how many people were trying to pretend to not be watching their encounter as word had already spread through the office that something was up.

Gil couldn't pretend any longer, his pent up emotions ready to spiral out of control. "What the hell happened, one minute you were kissing me and ready to come over for breakfast, and now you don't want to have anything to do with me, I want an explanation now!" he demanded.

"Please, not here," she tried to ask, but he was at the point where he didn't care anymore.

She wanted to cry at the look of deep hurt she saw in his eyes as she tried to figure out a solution to this problem. How did she tell him about the last letter she had received when the person who sent it could very well be standing there listening to them? Praying he would forgive her later she forced down the sudden bile in her throat to give him an answer that she knew would push him away. "Fine, you want an answer, I'll give it to you. I realized we wanted different things and so decided to end it. That's all."

"We wanted different things, what's that supposed to mean?" Grissom was confused. It was like a ping pong match as the eyes of other CSI's and lab techs switched from one to the other. Out of the corner of her eye Catherine gauged the reactions she was witnessing. Greg looked like he was about to faint, Warrick and Nick both simply looked stunned, Sara was gaping as her eyes intently studied their interaction, one of the secretaries was crying and the rest of the group were just looking with that morbid curiosity often seen in the eyes of those who were standing outside the yellow tape at a crime scene.

"Look, you wanted a relationship didn't you? Hearts, flowers, happily ever after and all that stuff." She said harshly, still hating herself, yet hoping she was putting on a convincing performance, she would find a way to tell him later.

"You didn't?" His voice sounded raw from the emotion. "Then what did you want from me Catherine?"

"A one night roll in the hay, ok. I had an itch I wanted scratched and that was it. So now you know, I haven't changed all that much have I?" She blasted back as Greg hit the floor in a dead faint. She couldn't imagine ever explaining this to everyone as she looked around. Gil sure was getting a heavy wave of sympathetic looks while she was getting looks that could kill from almost every female in there for apparently hurting the gentle scientist. "Oh shit" she thought when she realized Ecklie had walked in and had a much too smug look on his face as he oozed his way in their direction. A few minutes later and they were both on 2 days suspension to "resolve their differences."

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ

AN: Apologies to any Sara fans, I recently watched "Invisible Evidence" and got a little irked at the mattress scene.

Catherine simply grabbed her keys and left the building while Grissom headed to his office to collect a couple things and feed his bugs so they would survive until he returned. He had just finished feeding the tarantula when he heard a noise at the door and looked up. Sara entered with the reports for him to sign, which he did so wordlessly and turned expecting her to leave. He was surprised when he heard the door shut and looked up to see her still standing there.

"Look, I know you don't want my help, but I can tell you're hurting over what she said to you. I'm here for you if you need me." She said bluntly, studying his face. "You know I'd never treat you like that." Her voice had softened and she had that hopeful look on her face again as she moved closer to him.

Grissom sighed deeply, he never knew how to deal with the advances from the younger CSI. He almost wished for a moment that he was in some way attracted to her, she was excellent at her job and would be thrilled if he took interest in her. "Would probably do everything she could to make him happy," he mused. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to at least talk to her for a bit, was nice to know someone cared about how he felt. "How about coming over for breakfast," he offered before regretting his invitation, but it was too late to take it back as he saw her positively start glowing. "Sure, let me finish up some work and I'll head on over." She beamed.

Grissom felt a wave of pain when he opened the front door of his townhouse, and saw it exactly as he had left it when imagining his return with Catherine. Removing the flowers and candles from the table he began making breakfast, having just finished it when the doorbell rang announcing Sara's arrival.

Their breakfast was relatively companionable, though Grissom still felt a little uncomfortable as she somehow managed to spend the whole time engaging him in discussions about his beloved bugs and appearing captivated by his every word. He felt like he was using her, but he did enjoy having his bruised ego stroked a little.

After the dishes were cleared they moved to the living room. The silence started becoming uncomfortable. "There's something I need to show you," she finally stated, as she reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope with a now familiar ladybug print. "I didn't realize you were still having problems with this." She said as she handed it to him and he began to read.

How dare you hold his hand in public you bitch, I saw you putting the moves on Gil Grissom at that car crash. Stop it now or you'll be sorry. He's mine and I won't let anyone stand in my way

"God this is such a mess," Grissom groaned, dropping the letter on the table as he sank onto the sofa.

"So what else has happened," Sara gently asked, encouraging him to tell her the rest of the story about what the stalker had done.

As he began relating the other letters to her, minus the part about his & Catherine's kiss, he was so involved in the talk that he didn't react when she started gently massaging his shoulders, he was so tired of this mess, tired of the senseless crimes and tragic deaths, tired of having his heart jerked around by Catherine's rejection, Sara's apparently undying devotion, and this stalkers frightening obsession with him and the women in his life.

Sara was fully enjoying herself, not believing that she was sitting on the couch giving a backrub to Grissom without any moves on his part to reject her contact. She loved the feel of his strong muscles beneath her hands, dreaming what it would be like to feel his bare skin beneath her hands.

Taking it a step further she moved her hands up until they were caressing the bare skin at the nape of his neck. Grissom inhaled sharply, freezing in place as he wondered what he could do without making her feel as rejected as he had been so recently. Taking his not pulling away as a positive sign she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him from behind and rested her head on his back as she imagined that he was finding the gesture comforting.

If she had seen the stricken look on his face she would have realized that he was not at all comforted but almost on the brink of a panic attack.

Abruptly standing up he broke her hold on him, "I don't think this is a good idea Sara," he watched her face fall, and hastily tried to fix the situation. "The stalker you know, they might come after you. And I don't want you hurt." He said truthfully, he may not be romantically attracted to her, but he didn't want her to be hurt. She seemed somewhat mollified by his response that he didn't want to see her hurt, since it implied that he cared.

"OK, I understand, but you know where I am," she gave her best come hither look as she rose and straightened her blouse, which he suddenly realized was much more low-cut than her usual garb.

"Yes, yes I do, thank you Sara, for listening." He stammered out as he showed her to the door, relieved for a change that he had the stalker to blame for getting rid of her. He paused as a nagging thought that he might be onto something suddenly clicked in the back of his mind, he began pacing as he started to try and put the pieces of the puzzle together.

By the early afternoon he was exhausted and finally succumbed to a restless sleep. Sitting bolt upright at midnight the adrenaline began to rush as his body told him he should be at work, he had jumped up and started for the shower when he remembered the suspension. Wide awake now he headed for the living room to turn on the tv.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ….not me

Distribution" Graveshiftcsi homepage

Night two of suspension

Bored by the television and thankful that this was his last night having to stay at home Grissom decided to attack the huge stack of mail that had been accumulating on his coffee table, the mail collected today almost slipping off the top of the pile as he began sorting through it all. He started throwing bills into one stack, junk mail into another, and business mail into a third stack, reflecting for a moment on the state of his social life at the frequent lack of personal correspondence. Usually he didn't let it get to him, but with everything else he couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for himself as he pulled out a checkbook and attacked the bills.

An hour and a few hundred dollars later he moved on to the junk mail which was relatively easy to sort through before shredding and then onto the most taxing stack, the one dealing with seminars, his entomology expertise, offered trainings and the like.

His brow furrowed when he saw a letter addressed to him from the National Association of Entomologists, there was no such organization that he had ever heard of, quizzically he started to tear it open, wondering how such an association could exist without his knowledge. He felt like he had been kicked in the stomach when he recognized Catherine's handwriting and was tempted to throw it in the trash rather than risk further damaging his already bruised heart, but couldn't resist scanning the first line.

Gil, please don't stop reading, I know you're hurt and angry but I have to explain. I couldn't figure out anyway to tell you this earlier and not risk getting caught. The other night I was so excited about our breakfast when I arrived at work. Then I saw a package & letter on my desk apparently from your stalker. You know I'm really starting to hate ladybugs. When I opened it I found a note filled with the same hateful garbage and name-calling as the first and didn't care, but it told me to open the other envelope and see what I would lose if I didn't keep away from you. They said that they would be watching closely and know if I told you. I opened the envelope and saw pictures of Lindsey, taken only a day before outside her school, and again when she was at the mall with friends. I got so scared, this has gotten way too serious. Hurting you is the last thing I want to do, but I couldn't risk my daughters life, this person is scarier than we originally thought, and I have the sick feeling that they're a lot closer to us both than we might think. And with you picking a very public hallway to confront me, well what could I do, they could have been one of the people watching us. I know you'll understand after you read this, but I still hate that I hurt you and embarrassed you like I did. I had wanted to do this in person at our breakfast, but since your psycho friend has thrown a wrench into the works, I'm going to put it on paper, so you will have no doubt as to how I really feel. I do love you Gil, and am looking forward to telling you more when we get this mess with your stalker solved. I wish I could help, but for Lindsey's sake I'm staying back. Perhaps you can get help from one of the guys, but please be careful with the information in this letter, I don't want them to know I've told you."

Gil smiled weakly, relief flooding his soul as all the puzzle pieces fell into place. Now he knew what had been nagging at him, it had been so obvious if he looked back at things now, if only he hadn't let his wounded pride get in the way of his thinking, he could have probably figured it out. Reading the letter one last time, memorizing the last part he then destroyed it as he swore to do all that he could to protect Lindsey and her mother and finally focus on dealing with this obsessed person who seemed intent on ruining his life.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ….not me

Distribution" Graveshiftcsi homepage

* * *

Catherine looked around the instant she arrived at the building for the night shift as the suspension was lifted. She was eager to see Grissom, praying that he had opened her letter, she had wanted to send it so that it was obviously personal, but for all she knew the wacko was going through his mail. As she saw Grissom come out of his office she looked hard for any signs that he had read it, a relaxed pose, a half-smile on his lips, a wink of understanding when he saw her, anything. But as he turned and gave her a hard look her shoulders sagged when she couldn't see any change at all in his expression.

It was going to be a long night she realized as she saw the lab still highly focused on both of their interactions, watching for any nuance, or to see if anything was said. Of course they had probably never seen a drama quite like the show she had put on 3 nights ago. "How did she get through to him," she wondered as she began trying to think of another plan, not yet realizing he had indeed received her letter.

Gil Grissom was going through his own problems as he sorted through the things that had accumulated on his desk for the past two nights. For once he wished it was paperwork, as he went through a frightening array of plants, notes, and other trinkets that had been given to him by the several people who had apparently sympathized with him. It was like being that nerd in high school who fell for and then got dumped on by a cheerleader type of sympathy that many of the staff could probably identify with themselves. "There was a high "nerd" concentration here, self included," he had chuckled at the thought.

As Catherine walked around the lab she was surprised at the unusual lack of warmth as people looked away from her, or even worse stared at her with the same kind of look you'd give someone who had just killed a puppy. She had known Gil was well liked, but this was just too weird she thought as she walked into the conference room seeing Nick and Warrick already seated as they waited for Grissom. "Hey Cath," they both greeted her, "welcome back."

"Thanks guys, it's good to be back." She relaxed, glad that at least the team members hadn't started shunning her. "So how have things been here?"

"Very interesting to say the least." Warrick said with a smile on his face. "The betting pool has never seen so much action."

"Yeah, I'm going to make a killing." Nick gloated.

"No you're not because you picked the wrong one. I'm going to win." Warrick boasted back.

"What are you guys talking about?" Catherine knew they loved making bets, but wasn't used to witnessing it first hand.

"Oh, uh, we can't tell you, just in case it influences the outcome." Nick hastily apologized, saved from further interrogation as Grissom and Sara walked into the room together.

Gil didn't even look at her as started giving out the assignments. "Nick, there's been another art robbery in the same neighborhood as the last one. Catherine and Sara, there's been a shooting at the Palace Nightclub, and Warrick, we're working a convenience store robbery on the strip, any questions?" he quickly scanned the room, still totally ignoring Catherine.

Nothing was said, but no one got up to move as silence filled the room. Finally Nick spoke what was on everyone's minds. "I have one, are we all supposed to go on as if nothing happened here the other night. You and Cath were at each others throats, suspended for two days and we all just go back to work as usual."

Grissom stared at Nick quietly, watching the younger CSI start squirming in his seat. "Yes Nick, that's exactly what we do. Catherine and I will be able to maintain a purely professional relationship as needed here at work and that will be it."

"That's it?" Nick was incredulous. "But what about…"

"You've been listening to too much gossip Nick," Grissom cut him off, "just drop it, I don't know what you've heard but there's absolutely nothing going on between us now, and never will be. Isn't that right Catherine?" Grissom finally addressed her, seeing her flinch at the unaccustomed formality in his voice and coldness present in his eyes.

"Yes, we're just colleagues, nothing more." She echoed emptily, feeling her heart sink at the tone of finality his words seemed to bring.

"Oh, one more thing," Grissom said, stopping them all in their tracks. "I may be gone next Thursday. I've been asked to speak at the National Entomologist Association gathering in Florida, so if anyone else is planning to be off, let me know now so I can be sure shift will be covered, anyone?"

No one spoke. "Good I guess we'll all be here then. Sara, you'll be in charge of shift that night, now lets hit those streets." Grissom tried to ignore the surprised looks of the rest of the team, but he didn't want Sara getting any bright ideas to try and attend the conference with him.

"Thank you, I'll do my best." She beamed as she took the case folder and started walking for the door. "Coming, Catherine."

"Yeah, let me grab my stuff from my locker." Catherine said as she made her way to the locker room, grumbling to herself as she got her gear, even though it was what she had been trying to do, it still hurt that he could act so cold and formal with her. And then to head off to some convention and leave Sara in charge to make everyone's lives miserable. She froze in midstep as comprehension dawned. He had said the National Association of Entomologists, there was no such thing, she had looked it up before sending the letter just to check, hoping that the name would draw his curiosity.

She couldn't help letting the grin spread across her face as she stood alone by her locker. "That little devil, he's a better actor than I would have thought." She kept grinning foolishly as she felt her knee's going almost weak with relief as she realized that he had gotten the letter, and wanted her to know he had. After taking a moment to relish the wave of happiness, she wiped the smile off her face and putting a serious expression back on before going to join Sara. Not even acknowledging Grissom when he had to jump out of her way as she strode purposefully through the hallway. Even this minor encounter adding even a little more grist to the very active gossip mill.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ….not me

Distribution" Graveshiftcsi homepage

* * *

Thirty minutes into the case and Catherine was already contemplating ways to kill Sara Sidle. After crowing incessantly about the honor and privilege of being asked to supervise the night shift as if she had been crowned queen of Englan, she moved onto Grissom. "Are you sure there's nothing between you two? I really think I have a chance now," her tone was breathless, cheeks flushed as she mentally recalled their recent closeness.

"Dating Gil Grissom is the last thing I want to do right now." Catherine answered mechanically, partially true due to her concern for Lindsey's safety, but also to keep the cover going. Seeming reassured Sara continued reliving the morning she had breakfast with Grissom, sharing every detail with Catherine who tried to maintain a fairly uninterested air about the whole thing. She had thought Sara had started getting over her crush on her mentor, but apparently it was back full force. Rolling her eyes she focused on the folder in front of her and began to study the brief preliminary report on the crime scene they were going to.

Meanwhile

"I thought you said the convenience store was on the strip." Warrick was confused as Grissom had headed in another direction, checking the rearview mirror every few moments.

"I did." Grissom said flatly, not bothering to clarify.

"Hate to break it to you but the strip is back there." Warrick turned in his seat to look backwards. Beginning to realize he was missing something he shut up and rode in silence. "Man you're creeping me out here." He spoke again when Grissom suddenly pulled over and parked in an empty strip of desert and then turned to him.

"There is no convenience store robbery, I need the help of someone I can totally trust, and since I highly doubt you're the one stalking me, I chose you. Will you help me?" Grissom asked.

"Anything I can do, just ask." Warrick assured his mentor and friend as Grissom reached for the box he had brought along containing the letters he had received from the stalker and began to explain what had transpired so far.

Warrick whistled in surprise after Grissom finished sharing everything he knew. "That sure explains a lot." He nodded, "so what do you want me to do."

"I've got to figure out who this is, there's absolutely no evidence so far." Grissom complained.

"Oh but there is," Warrick grinned, "maybe not fingerprints or fibers, but we have their words and therefore insight into their thoughts." He began reading the letters again, as Grissom remained silent to let the man read.

"Man she's got it bad." Warrick finally shook his head after reading again. "I do think it's someone already close to us in the lab, the fact that they took pictures of Lindsey says that also. They know she is Catherine's daughter, and also where she goes to school."

"We know they're close, it could be anyone in the lab." Gil was exasperated, for some reason hoping Warrick would have seen something he had not. "I guess we should make a list of all the women in the lab and work through it then, eliminating them one by one."

"Gris, when I say close, I mean close, not a lab tech or secretary." Warrick paused debating his next words. "I think we need to first eliminate the most obvious person with a crush on you." Warrick watched Grissom carefully to see how long it would take him to grasp what he had said.

Comprehension soon dawned, "Sara," Grissom said incredulously before he began laughing. "No, it couldn't be her, she's not that far gone," he kept shaking his head in disbelief. Finally stopping when he realized Warrick wasn't laughing just staring at him intently.

"Think about it, she's been here for five years, and is still making moves on you. She's got it bad." Warrick spoke calmly. "I didn't say she was guilty, I said we needed to eliminate her before moving on."

"So how exactly do you propose I go about that?" Grissom finally relented, willing to hear Warrick out.

"I don't know, without trace evidence searching her apartment wouldn't help," Warrick shook his head.

"If she were the stalker, not that I think she is, perhaps she would have some of the materials there." Grissom said hopefully.

"Possibly, but I also think she'd be too smart for that if so." Warrick countered.

"You're probably right." Grissom chewed his bottom lip as he thought. "You know I really don't think it's her, she's not been shy about her feelings, look at all the times she's tried to flirt with me." He still couldn't quite believe what Warrick was suggesting.

"And gotten absolutely nowhere." Warrick replied.

"You have an answer for everything." Grissom sighed. "Fine, so let's first focus on eliminating her as a suspect," he agreed as the two men began to brainstorm a plan.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ….not me

* * *

An hour later and the men weren't much closer to a solution, all they had so far was circumstantial evidence at best, as they both knew that if it was her she would be far too smart for them to catch her with the evidence.

"I have an idea, but it's risky." Warrick suddenly straightened as a thought struck. "Feel like going after an Emmy?"

"An Emmy? Grissom arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, now that I realize what great acting skills you and Catherine both have. Of course a risk would be that if we're wrong you'll have led Sara on and she'll be hurt." Warrick pointed out the negative as they thought about it, neither man wanting to intentionally set up their friend, especially if she was innocent.

"I don't want to do that if we can help it." Grissom didn't look fond of the idea.

"I'd like to get a Catherine's point of view on this," Warrick said as he picked up his cell phone.

"Wait, you can't call her?" Grissom panicked. "You could tip someone off."

"I doubt they're listening in on the phone waves." Warrick said, "Relax. Besides, you can't call her since you're supposed to be on no contact terms, but that rule doesn't apply to me." He grinned as he dialed the number.

"Willows." Catherine immediately answered, mouthing Warrick to Sara who had started walking to the scene but turned around when Catherines phone rang.

"Hey Cath. Busy, or have you got a minute? I have a quick question for you."

"Sure, shoot, I'm at the crime scene with Sara, we're walking around looking for clues."

"Ok, well Grissom and I have been talking, he's pulled me in on this stalker thing to try and help."

"You know everything then." Her voice was suddenly guarded.

"Yes, but you know the secrets safe with me." Warrick assured her, "we've taken every precaution. But listen, we were talking about our first step being to rule out Grissom's number one fan."

"Really," Catherine was careful to keep her voice casual in case Sara could actually hear her end of the conversation, though she seemed completely focused for a moment on a carpet mark by the bar.

"You do know who I'm talking about don't you?"

"Of course I do," Catherine laughed slightly, continuing to make the conversation seem like a friendly chat.

"We don't want to hurt her though if we're barking up the wrong tree, so want to know if you think we should go ahead with considering her as a potential suspect."

Catherine paused a minute as she reflected over Sara's behavior on the way over, "I think that might be a good idea."

"OK, guess we'll have to give it a shot." Warrick sighed, on one hand feeling good that she had validated his suspicion, and yet on the other wishing that she to had scoffed at the idea also. "Hang on a second." He smiled and handed the phone to Grissom, "I think you two need a moment." He said as he opened the door to get out of the car.

"Warrick, what's up? I do have to work sometime tonight you know." Catherine wondered why the long pause on the other end.

"Hi beautiful," Gil's voice came over the line causing her to instantly smile.

"Yes Warrick I can talk another minute." She said, rolling her eyes and pretending to be bored for the benefit of Sara as she walked by.

"Are we ok?" He asked softly, knowing that they had to play this carefully, but wanting a few moments to talk without a charade.

"You bet." She replied easily.

"I miss you." He said, glad he could express his honest feelings, even if she had to be more careful.

"Oh yeah, same here, can't wait till it's over." She answered, reveling in the sound of his voice and knowing he was no longer angry at her.

"I've got Warrick helping me now, we'll get it solved soon." Grissom promised her.

"Look I gotta go and work on this crime scene before Grissom uses it as an excuse to fire me, but we'll talk later ok?" She said quickly as Sara walked up to her.

"OK, love you." Gil blurted out, surprised even at himself.

"Me too, later." She said quickly before flipping the phone shut.

"You and Warrick sure sounded awfully friendly?" Sara looked at her quizzically.

"Yeah, ever since this mess with Grissom he's really been there for me." Catherine smiled, pretending to look slightly smitten. "He's a really great friend."

"Awesome, you know you two would make a great couple." Sara stated before turning back to the scene to point out the areas where she had found blood. Completely unaware that she was now considered a suspect herself.

TBC.


	18. Chapter 18

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ….not me

* * *

Everyone but Catherine and Sara had returned to the lab and worked on wrapping up the paperwork on their cases as the end of the shift approached. Gil Grissom was still slightly uncomfortable with the plan he and Warrick had devised, but knew at this point it had to be done. Now all he had to do was wait for Sara to make a move.

He didn't have to wait long as she approached him the moment she and Catherine walked in the door. Poker face firmly in place Catherine completely ignored him and immediately went over to where Warrick was to talk with him. Relieved to have a friend who knew some of the turmoil she had been going through.

"So Grissom, I was thinking, maybe we could go out for breakfast." Sara suggested, almost holding her breath as she waited for another reaction.

"Sure, sounds good, I'll meet you out front." Grissom agreed easily, hating himself already for doing this as Sara lit up like a Christmas tree.

Soon they were sitting in a small diner, eating breakfast together. Sara chattering away about the case as Grissom tried to look appropriately fascinated. He perked up as she changed the subject. "So did you know Catherine and Warrick are a couple now?" She stated, carefully watching his reaction.

"Not surprised." He answered glibly, though in fact he was very surprised at how much she had apparently stretched a phone conversation out, unless Catherine had made it sound that way to her, he continued to try and give her the benefit of the doubt.

"You don't care?" Sara pressed on.

"Not unless it interferes with their work," he gave the appropriate supervisory answer, seeing her brighten slightly as he did so. "Here it comes" he thought as he saw her take a deep breath and get that serious look on her face.

"I was wondering if you'd like to come over for awhile, we can keep talking or something?" She offered, obviously expecting a rejection.

He pretended to think about it a minute before answering, "maybe for a little while." He nodded as he picked up the check and laid down a $20 before they rose to leave.

Sara's Apartment

Still feeling like a heel Grissom sat on Sara's sofa, smiling and nodding appropriately at everything she said, praying that Warrick would soon be proved very wrong. He gulped as he realized Sara had started moving closer to him on the sofa and had begun leaning forward as she talked, her voice softening. "This was the moment" he realized as he could see her closing her eyes as her lips neared his, waiting until they had barely touched before he pulled away.

"I'm sorry Sara, we can't do this." He said, sounding sad.

"Why not," she couldn't believe they had come this far only to be stopped now.

"There's someone else." He said very deliberately as he studied her face intently as he spoke, noticing a definite flash of rage before she looked away.

"Who?" Her tone was incredulous, there couldn't be anyone besides Catherine she thought.

"Well I know it's silly but I don't know her name yet," Grissom answered, still keeping his tone very neutral.

"The woman who has been sending me letters. Something about the way she writes, the way she puts her feelings to paper, the way she's so protective of me. She was right on the money about Catherine wasn't she? I can't help feeling that I should get to know this woman better."

"I thought you said she sounded like a psychopath." Sara acted appropriately confused.

"At first I thought she was, then as I reread the letters and considered the gift, well I began to think differently." He smiled as if recollecting the letters.

"You liked the cologne?" Sara seemed surprised since he had obviously not worn it yet. Grissom's heart sank however at her words, as he knew for a fact that the only people he had mentioned the cologne to were Catherine and Warrick.

"Yes I did, it was the nicest gift I've gotten in a long time. I've wanted to start wearing cologne for awhile you know, it's one reason I think I keep striking out with women."

"So you are rejecting me for someone you don't even know?" Sara's tone sounded hurt.

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to handle this better, I just know I need to be with her, whoever she is, get to know her as she apparently knows me." Grissom said as emotionally as he could, feeling even sicker when at his words an unnaturally large smile suddenly appeared on her face.

"Wait just a minute then." She said as she bent down, pulling the large throw rug back to reveal a trapdoor. Even though he was seeing it firsthand Grissom didn't want to believe it as she pulled out a large box and sat it on the table. Feigning simple curiosity he leaned forward to look.

"I'm not sure I understand." He gave her a confused look as she opened the box and started laying things out on the table, first came the familiar ladybug stationary and wrapping paper. He was speechless as she continued laying things on the table, realizing that they were all newspaper clippings and various pictures of him taken through the years. When she had finished emptying the box she turned back to him with a look of pride on her face.

"It's me, I'm the one who sent you the letters." She exclaimed happily. "I love you so much, but didn't think you'd ever notice when I told you in person, so I came up with this plan, and it worked, I can't believe it worked." She beamed as she grabbed him, hugging him tightly as she began planting kisses on his stunned face.

Finally finding the strength to react he gently pushed her away as he looked into her eyes, noticing how they didn't look like they usually did, they looked unnatural, delusional. Taking another deep breath he forced himself to continue with what he knew had to come next.

"Sara, I'm sorry, but you need help." He said quietly as he pulled out his cellphone to make one of the hardest calls he would probably ever have to make.

TBC

**Chapter End Notes:**

Apologies to any Sara fans, did I mention I really got a little irked at Invisible evidence, lol.


	19. Chapter 19

Title: Stalking Grissom

Author: DJ….not me

Distribution" Graveshiftcsi homepage

* * *

Without warning the phone was knocked from his hands as Sara reacted very unexpectedly. "You tricked me." She snarled accusingly. "Sara, I'm sorry, but I had to know, I want to help you." Grissom said trying to calm the furious woman down, but she would not respond. 

It struck him as odd that she actually seemed dangerous as she began cursing, smashing and throwing things. Standing up very quietly he attempted to quickly move to the door and he had almost reached it when she noticed his escape. "Freeze!" She ordered, her voice changed to one of determined anger. He felt his pulse quicken as he saw the gun in her hand.

"You don't want to do this Sara, it's not too late." He tried hard to sound calm and consoling despite his racing pulse. "You haven't done anything yet that will get you into any serious trouble." He continued when he saw her pause.

"I don't want to go on like this." She admitted, her voice cracking as tears began to fall and the gun shook in her hand.

"It's ok, we'll be alright, we can get through this," he continued soothingly as he began moving towards her, she didn't even resist as he gently removed the gun from her hand and pulled her too him, feeling her tears soaking through his shirt. They were interrupted by a pounding on the door, "police." A voice said in warning before two uniformed officers barged in guns drawn.

"There's no need for that." Grissom told them, not wanting to make things any harder for Sara than they had to be.

"We got a report that there was a disturbance." One of them spoke up as he scanned the room, taking in the damage.

"We had an argument, but it's ok now." Grissom reiterated as they put away their weapons and he turned to look again at Sara before she buried her face back in his strong shoulder. Hearing more people enter he looked up to see that Catherine and Warrick had arrived as well.

"We heard the commotion," Warrick said simply, later they would tell them that they had been waiting outside ever since Warrick had filled Catherine in on the plan.

LATER

Sara had agreed to get help and had let the trio escort her to the ER for an evaluation and subsequent admission to a mental health facility. Before letting her go the team all assured that there would be no legal charges pending, and that everyone wanted her to get well and continue her CSI career. Her parents had been contacted and were on their way also to show support for their only daughter. It did not need to be spoken that she could not return to the Las Vegas lab.

Catherine tried to be angry at her for threatening Lindsey, but could not now that she knew just how troubled the young woman had been. Warrick headed back to the lab, saying in light of what had happened and out of respect to Sara he was going to get the betting pool about what was happening with Grissom and Catherine cancelled.

"So things are back to normal now," Grissom finally said as he and Catherine were relaxing on his sofa, having gone back to his place to process all that had happened between them these past few weeks.

"For us maybe, but it's going to be a hell of a return to the lab and facing all those questions. You think you know someone." She said wryly, still a bit shaken up by the events. Grissom hadn't told her until they were leaving the hospital that Sara had pulled a gun on him.

They finally felt the most content they had in weeks as they nestled together on his sofa, enjoying the warmth and reassurance that filled them both at their contact.

"I'm really sorry I said all those horrible things to you." Catherine spoke a little later, "I was just so scared for Lindsey that I think I overreacted. I hated hurting you like that." She said sadly as she recalled again how hurt Gil had looked.

"Hey, we're past that, I understand, those mother bear instincts kicked in." He reassured her as he caressed her shoulder. "But we don't need to keep looking backwards, we can start looking forward again." His voice was hopeful as he pulled back a little allowing her to look up at him.

"Yes, only going to move forward now," she smiled as she reached up and gently caressed his cheek before pulling his lips to hers stopping when they were only millimeters apart.

"Wait a minute!" Gil pulled back as he quickly jumped up from the sofa. Catherine looked confused for a moment then realized what he was doing as he locked the door and shut off both his home phone and his cell phone before returning to her. "No interruptions this time." He proclaimed as he moved back to the sofa as they began their kiss again.

It started off as a simple nuzzling of the lips, deepening as she slipped her tongue in his mouth and began exploring, with a groan he answered her as his tongue began gliding over hers as they sank further into the sofa, not rushing as they knew that they would have the rest of their lives to be together.

THE END


End file.
